Model-based Design Methodology Research Articles

Methodology for Model-Based Design of Mobile Robots Control Algorithms

This article proposes the formalized methodology for model-based design of mobile platform management systems. The methodology is based on an alternative approach to development, when the model of controlled object is firstly created as a design tool, and then control algorithms are developed. This allows to find the most successful algorithms and select control parameters that are close to optimal in the process of model-based design. As examples, two typical tasks from the field of mobile platform management are given - braking and steering control. The proposed methodology has sufficient unification to be used in the design of control systems for mobile platforms of various types, with different positioning systems, principles of navigation and autopiloting.

Research on Hydrogen-Fueled Turbojet Engine Control Method Based on Model-Based Design

Due to the substantial disparities in physical attributes between hydrogen fuel and conventional fuels, the development of an efficient controller presents a formidable challenge. In this context, this paper delves into the utilization of a model-based design (MBD) methodology for the purpose of conceiving and enhancing control systems for hydrogen-fueled turbojet engines. The investigation commences by adopting an established physical model of a hydrogen-fueled turbojet engine and subsequently validates its performance through rigorous simulation exercises. Consequently, this research undertakes a systematic deconstruction of the design process into discrete sub-phases, thus facilitating a seamless progression from system requirement analysis to system verification. This approach engenders a concurrent design and optimization of the control system. The ultimate confirmation of the controller’s efficacy and reliability is achieved through exhaustive simulations and Hardware-In-the-Loop testing. The research findings not only serve to augment design efficiency and mitigate design expenditures, but also propose avenues for further performance ameliorations in the realm of hydrogen-fueled turbojet engines. The control system accuracy of MBD is compared with the experimental results, and under high hydrogen fuel flow conditions, the errors reach an extremely low level of 0.1%. This affords a novel design paradigm within the domain of aero-engine control.

An advanced Photovoltaic Thermal Collector Storage Solar Water Heating based on planar liquid vapour thermal diode: Model-based design approach for the optimal energy performance assessment

The building sector is responsible for the highest portion of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. To partly address this issue, the scientific community is placing greater emphasis on the utilization of Building Integrated Solar Systems (BISS) as a means of improving building thermophysics and decreasing primary energy demand. Within this framework, Integrated Collector Storage Solar Water Heaters (ICSSWH) have the potential to significantly decrease the costs associated with the installation and maintenance of building-integrated solar systems (BISS), all while optimizing the utilization of solar power. Nevertheless, ICSSWHs exhibit certain limitations in their capacity to retain thermal energy, particularly during nocturnal periods. One potential approach for enhancing the efficiency of ICSSWH collectors involves the integration of Thermal Diodes (TD), which have the capability to optimize heat absorption while minimizing heat retention. In this context, to advance the state-of-the-art in the field, this paper presents a novel dynamic simulation tool conceived to assess the performance of an innovative Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal ICSSWH (the HyPVT), incorporating a cutting-edge Planar Liquid Vapour Thermal Diode (PLVTD), and purposely designed to be integrated into buildings’ envelope. By using the developed simulation tool, the performance of the proposed HyPVT collector concept is investigated with the aim of assessing its collection and retention efficiencies under different boundary and operating conditions. Furthermore, to show the effect of the Planar Liquid Vapour Thermal Diode (PLVTD) adoption, a comparative analysis is conducted between the proposed ICSSWH and a conventional one (without a thermal diode). Finally, the developed tool will be utilized in forthcoming research to determine the optimal device configuration through the utilization of a model-based design methodology.

Real-time predictive model for reactivity controlled compression ignition marine engines

Model-based design is proven to be essential for the development of control systems. This paper presents a real-time predictive control-orientated model (COM) for low-temperature combustion (LTC), dual-fuel, reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engines. A comprehensive model-based design methodology must be capable of constructing an RCCI control-orientated model with high accuracy, high noise immunity, good response, predictivity in governing mechanisms, and low computation time. This work attains all of these for the first time for a cutting-edge RCCI marine engine. The real-time model (RTM) captures the key sensitivities of RCCI by controlling the total fuel energy and the blend ratio (BR) of two fuels, while also considering uncertainties arising from variations of inlet temperature and the gas exchange process. It provides not only the cycle-wise combustion indicators but also the crank-angle-based cylinder pressure trend. The RTM is derived by direct linearisation of a physics-based model and is successfully validated against experimental results from a large-bore, RCCI engine and the previously acknowledged UVATZ (University of Vaasa Advanced Thermo-kinetic Multi-zone) model. Validation covers both steady-state and transient modes. With high accuracy in several case studies representing typical load transients and air-path disturbance rejection tests, the model predicts maximum cylinder pressure (Pmax), crank-angle of 5 % burnt (CA5), crank-angle of 50 % burnt (CA50) and indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) with root means square (RMS) errors of 8.6 %, 0.3 %, 0.6 %, and 0.6 % respectively. The average simulation time without any code optimisation is around 5 ms/cycle, offering sufficient real-time surplus to incorporate a semi-predictive emission submodel within the current approach.

A More Accurate Systems Modelling and Simulation Framework in Design and Optimization of A System During the Conceptual Phase

Modelling and simulation of complex mechanical systems involving multi-simulation environment, with great accuracy is essential as part of the conceptual design phase of a system under design. The co-simulation between system level model with various subsystems based on Model Based Design (MBD) and component level model is a perfect example. These mathematical models have distinct features such as the type of differential equations used to represent its physics, boundary conditions etc. In this study we use MBD methodology to develop a simulation model that can drive product development and optimization of mechanical systems. We also incorporate a 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model as one of its subsystem into the System Level (SL) model architecture. This is done by creating a co-simulation interface between these two different modelling environments and exchange boundary conditions via a specific interface. The interaction between multi-domain models through system simulation together with the detailed fluid flow and thermal analysis of the component through CFD is finally explained. Finally, the dynamic behaviour of the complete system and its temporal and spatial scales is shown to be captured in more detail.

An example of adoption of the model-based design (MBD) methodology in the development process of an LPG fuelling system

An example of adoption of the model-based design (MBD) methodology in the development process of an LPG fuelling system

The future technological potential of hydrogen fuel cell systems for aviation and preliminary co-design of a hybrid regional aircraft powertrain through a mathematical tool

The growing demand for air travel in the commercial sector leads to an increase in global emissions, whose mitigation entails transitioning from the current fossil-fuel based generation of aircrafts to a cleaner one within a short timeframe. The use of hydrogen and fuel cells has the potential to reach zero emissions in the aerospace sector, provided that required innovation and research efforts are substantially accomplished. Development programs, investments and new regulations are needed for this technology to be safe and economical. In this context, it makes sense to develop a model-based preliminary design methodology for a hybrid regional aircraft assisted by a battery hybridized fuel cell powertrain. The technological assumptions underlying the study refer to both current and expected data for 2035. The major contribution of the proposed methodology is to provide a mathematical tool that considers the interactions between the choice of components in terms of installed power and energy management. This simultaneous study is done because of the availability of versatile control maps. The tool was then deployed to define current and future technological scenarios for fuel cell, battery and hydrogen storage systems, by quickly adapting control strategies to different sizing criteria and technical specifications. In this way, it is possible to facilitate the estimation of the impact of different sizing criteria and technological features, at the aircraft level, on the onboard electrical system, the management of in-flight power, the propulsion methods, the impact of the masses on consumption and operational characteristics in a typical flight mission. The proposed combination of advanced sizing and energy management strategies allowed meeting mass and volume constraints with state-of-the-art PEM fuel cell and Li-ion battery specifications. Such a solution corresponds to a high degree of hybridization between the fuel cell system and battery pack (i.e., 300 kW and 750 kWh), whereas projected 2035 specs were demonstrated to help reduce mass and volume by 23 % and 40 %, respectively.

Modeling of Underactuated Ball and Beam System—A Comparative Study

The article presents a comparison of the methods of modeling the underactuated ball and beam system. This study was carried out to select a model suitable for the development of a control system using the model-based design methodology. Firstly, the approach commonly used in research was verified. It was also examined whether it is important to take into account the eccentric fixation in these models. An original model taking into account friction resistance was also proposed. The considered models were simulated in Matlab/Simulink software environments and verified in reality. The obtained results were compared and analyzed.

Technical Product-Service Systems: A Methodology to reduce the Carbon Footprint in PSS Design

The life cycle of technical PSS comprises of design, production, use, and end-of-life. Decisions in PSS design have significant influence on the carbon footprint (CF). Thus, reduction measures need to be integrated in the PSS design. This paper presents a model-based design methodology to reduce the CF of technical PSS. The methodology contains six steps: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), LCA analysis, reduction measures identification, conflict prevention, LCA reevaluation, and detailed elaboration. To validate the feasibility, a use case from machine tool industry is carried out. The results show that the methodology can identify measures that reduce the CF significantly.

Review on Model Based Design of Advanced Control Algorithms for Cogging Torque Reduction in Power Drive Systems

This review of the state of the art aims to collect the description and main research results in the field of development and validation of control algorithms with the main purpose to solve the problem of cogging torque and main sources of electromagnetic torque ripple. In particular, we focus on electric drives for advanced and modern mechatronic applications such as industrial automation, robotics, and automotive applications, with special emphasis on work that exploits model-based design. A great added value of this paper is to explicitly show the operational steps required for the model-based design design of optimized control algorithms for electric drives where it is necessary to make up for electromagnetic torque oscillations due to the main sources of ripple, particularly cogging torque. The ultimate goal of this paper is to provide researchers approaching this particular problem with a comprehensive collection of the most effective solutions reported in the state of the art and also a summary for effectively applying the model-based design methodology.

Harnessing structural stochasticity in the computational discovery and design of microstructures

This paper presents a deep generative model-based design methodology for tailoring the structural stochasticity of microstructures. Although numerous methods have been established for designing deterministic (periodic) or stochastic microstructures, a systematic design approach that allows the unified treatment of both deterministic and stochastic microstructure design domains has yet to be created. The proposed methodology resolves this issue by learning a unified feature space that embodies diverse structural patterns with continuously varying stochasticity levels. A highly diverse microstructure database is established to incorporate various types of deterministic and stochastic microstructure patterns. A property-aware deep generative model is proposed to learn a unified feature space of the structural characteristics, as well as the relationship between structure features and properties of interest. Autoencoder (AE), Variational Autoencoder (VAE), and Adversarial Autoencoder (AAE) are compared to understand their relative merits in the property-aware learning of the unified feature space. Microstructural designs with tailorable stochasticity and properties are obtained by searching the unified feature space. Multiple design cases are presented to demonstrate the capability of designing microstructures for structural stochasticity and properties. Furthermore, the proposed method is employed to create stochastically graded structures, which manipulate the mechanical behaviors by varying the local stochasticity of the structure.

Model-Based Design and Safety Assessment for Crewless Autonomous Vessel

The Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ship (DFFAS) Project conducted the crewless maritime autonomous surface ship long-distance demonstration in congested waters in March 2022. This study shows a model-based systematic design methodology and a safety evaluation method for autonomous ships conducted through this project. A reference model of ConOps (Concept of Operations) for autonomous navigation systems is proposed using the DFFAS system as an example. System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) is also applied at the subsystem and component levels according to the actual system development phase to extract appropriate granularity of safety requirements.

Application of the MiL and HiL Simulation Techniques in Stewart Platform Control Development

During the integration phase of a system development, we are often concerned as to whether the designed control algorithm could be performed on the selected controller in real-time. One of the tools to test and validate the control scheme is the Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) simulation technique, which is a part of a model-based design methodology. This approach requires a simulation model of a controlled system running in a real-time loop with an intended controller and a control algorithm, which are objects of interest in this method. To perform the test, the control algorithm must be deployed to the controller such as a PLC. This paper presents a use case of the HiL technique in the design of the Stewart platform control, where the controller is PLCnext from Phoenix Contact. The control algorithm was first verified in the Model-in-the-Loop simulation (MiL) and then generated as a code from the Matlab/Simulink environment and deployed to the PLCnext, which resulted in a smoother transition from the design to the integration and testing phase. The presented method is also applicable to other controllers that support code generation.

Model-based configuration of access protection units for multicore processors in embedded systems

Multiprocessor system-on-chip platforms are becoming increasingly common in embedded systems. To facilitate a logical isolation of physically connected on-chip components, internal communication links of such platforms are often equipped with dedicated access protection units. When performed manually, the configuration of these units is both time-consuming and error-prone. Therefore, we present a model-based design methodology that allows designers to describe envisaged communication link transactions as well as the desired information flow policy in a platform-independent manner. After automatically verifying the consistency between specified transactions and the declared policy, the proposed toolchain delegates model instances to an extensible generation framework. This framework translates the envisaged transactions into configuration code for access protection units of particular platforms. We give a formal description of both the model and the verification procedure, describe the platform-specific generation framework, and evaluate the approach by applying it to an example scenario from the field of autonomous driving.

DESIGNING A MODEL-BASED, MULTI-PERSPECTIVE PROCESS DESIGN ENVIRONMENT

AbstractThe development of engineered systems is a complex process, involving many activities and development artifacts. The challenges introduced by this complexity calls for a model-based design environment. The PROVE methodology is an artifact-centric, model-based development process design methodology. In this paper, we present the first, fully model-based design environment of the PROVE. Furthermore, our environment incorporates additional process design perspectives that are applied in real-time and in a completely consistent manner, based on a formally defined information model. We discuss the details of our environment's design as well as highlight its potential benefits.

A model-based design methodology for flight control systems: Global 7500 pitch control case study

This article introduces an original model-based design methodology addressing a high-performance aircraft design challenge: conflicting performance requirements. The case study of the Global 7500 elevator actuation system also provides in-depth insight into the complex design process of today’s fly-by-wire flight control systems. The methodology presented here redefines the aircraft manufacturer’s involvement in the design process of the systems, implementing analysis and iteration capabilities early in system development. To this end, it introduces a novel modeling approach for analyzing loaded rate requirements by simulating closed-loop performance with a generic nonlinear second-order state filter, including the main performance limitations without requiring a preliminary design definition. In this way, it provides means to mature the system requirements and addresses requirement conflicts upfront. Then, a simulation-based preliminary sizing and performance assessment validates the candidate design concept. It also secures the preliminary design phase by implementing advanced design uncertainties and involving interfacing systems and disciplines early in the process. The redefined methodology identified directly that the problem’s root cause was a conflict between stability and control and flutter protection requirements. It also indicated that the first sizing driver is the response time required under a specific failure case. These findings lead to an optimal elevator actuator design compliant with matured performance requirements. Thus, the methodology resolved a design challenge blocking the Global 7500 aircraft development and prevented redesign occurrences later during the detailed design phase. In this way, it directly contributed to the successful development of the Global 7500 and its optimal operational performance. This methodology applies to future aircraft design challenges, and the technical insight provides valuable lessons learned for high-performance T-tail business jets.

SEPIC - MPPT controller with photovoltaic energy for groundwater extraction

The model-based design methodology is presented for the development of an experimental SEPIC-MPPT controller powered by a photovoltaic module, designed to extract water from a deep well using a DC submersible motor pump. To specify the proposed methodology, a photovoltaic panel was characterized under various conditions of solar radiation and the modeling of its Voltage-Current relationship was carried out. The best tilt angle for the installation was determined to be nine degrees (9°). Similarly, a SEPIC controller was developed from model-based design. The results obtained showed an average adjustment error of less than 4%, on the performance parameters contrasted in the modeled / experimental system. The efficiency achieved by the SEPIC-MPPT controller was 85.26%. It is concluded that the methodology implemented for the design is coherent and valid for the development of SEPIC-MPPT controllers with application in underground water extraction systems, in areas with photovoltaic potential.

Implementing synchronous reactive components upon multiprocessor platforms

Model-based design methodologies based on the synchrony assumption are widely used in many safety-critical application domains. The synchrony assumption asserts that actions (such as the execution of code) occur instantaneously; however, physical platforms obviously do not possess this property. This paper considers a scheduling problem that arises when one seeks to implement programs that are written under the synchrony assumption upon actual multiprocessor platforms, and proposes algorithms for solving this problem exactly and approximately.

Resource-Optimal Fault-Tolerant Scheduler Design for Task Graphs Using Supervisory Control

Real-time control applications are highly parallelizable and can be used to effectively harness the capacity of a given computing platform when appropriately scheduled. Given a multicore platform for executing a set of parallelizable applications, it is necessary to ensure proper functioning of the system even in the presence of transient processor faults. However, most existing scheduling approaches for parallel applications have been heuristic schemes which are often based only on the satisfaction of a set of sufficiency conditions and cannot take into consideration of all necessary schedulability requirements. Consequently, such schemes lead to suboptimal usage of resources resulting in higher design costs. Formal model-based safe design methodologies such as supervisory control are often desirable in the design of correct-by-construction fault-tolerant schedulers. This article proposes a supervisory control-based fault-tolerant scheduler synthesis scheme for real-time tasks modeled as precedence-constrained task graphs, executing on multicores. Further, we devise search strategies to obtain schedules that 1) maximize fault-tolerance and 2) minimize peak-power (MPP) dissipation. Conducted experiments using real-world benchmarks reveal the efficacy of our scheme.

Model-based design of variable speed non-salient pole permanent magnet synchronous generator for urban water pipeline energy harvester

This paper proposes the model-based design methodology of a 60-kW direct drive variable speed permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) used in an urban water pipeline energy harvesting system. The whole study aims to design the PMSG considering different system parameters of the energy harvesting system such as the mechanical parameters, electric circuit, power electronics and the variable speed drive operation. The electric and geometric parameters of the PMSG is then designed based on different design constraints imposed by the system. To incorporate the effect of the variable speed drive into the PMSG electric parameters, this work introduces a parameter called κ, which can map the electric parameter variations with the variation of the PMSG input speed profile. This proposed work achieved a successful coupling among the system mechanical and variable speed drive parameters with the PMSG electric and geometric parameters. The coupling is performed in a python-based environment which couples MATLAB and Altair FLUX. The results are tested and validated against the desired values of the PMSG which shows a good agreement among different results. This whole design process can be useful in achieving a model-based design that can provide a detail analysis option before prototyping and testing different components of the harvester system.